I heard about this a couple weeks ago. It's a way that landlords can cram up to 4 people per bedroom at the cost of $150+ per week. Obviously, while not all sober houses are blatant cash grabs and do provide a service for recovering addicts, more and more of them are turning out to be just a way for landlords to take advantage of people at their lowest point. Totally unregulated and unequipped to deal with the problems that people in recovery face.

It's like that scene in Weeds where Kevin Nealon's character gets caught running a fake charity so tries to cover for it by turning his office into a homeless shelter.

around here the going rate for a room at a sober house is around 300-350/month, which makes it very affordable for someone who needs a little time to get their shiat together working a part time job and saving up a bit of money

MFK:I heard about this a couple weeks ago. It's a way that landlords can cram up to 4 people per bedroom at the cost of $150+ per week. Obviously, while not all sober houses are blatant cash grabs and do provide a service for recovering addicts, more and more of them are turning out to be just a way for landlords to take advantage of people at their lowest point. Totally unregulated and unequipped to deal with the problems that people in recovery face.

Who's paying for that?

If they're unofficial, then it can't be the public? If it's themselves, why don't they just rent a motel room for that kind of money.

This has been going on in L.A. for a while, with houses being overcrowded and falling into disrepair.Can't remember if there's rules coming down the pike or not, but I heard about this on NPR a few weeks ago.

spawn73:MFK: I heard about this a couple weeks ago. It's a way that landlords can cram up to 4 people per bedroom at the cost of $150+ per week. Obviously, while not all sober houses are blatant cash grabs and do provide a service for recovering addicts, more and more of them are turning out to be just a way for landlords to take advantage of people at their lowest point. Totally unregulated and unequipped to deal with the problems that people in recovery face.

Who's paying for that?

If they're unofficial, then it can't be the public? If it's themselves, why don't they just rent a motel room for that kind of money.

I was debating getting involved, but I see no one else is really touching the numbers.

I'm vaguely tapped into the industry as far as our IT company supports a few of the operators in South Florida.

Average 2 or 3 bdr house rents for 1.2 to 1.5k / mo.

Sober house owner can get about 1k per room per month. They can divide the rooms however they want. Multiple beds per 'dorm' are normal and expected by the clients.

You can have up to I believe it's five unrelated people under one roof in a 30 day period. This is why so many stop at 28 days. This is a Single Family Dwelling. Multi Family Dwelling is more, but costs more. You have to get a license from the state and city, and a fire inspection. Usually costs under $1k all in. You can buy the house outright and churn it that way, if you want. That's why so many junk homes are being grabbed for peanuts and rolled into the system.

Who's paying for this? You. Addiction is covered by the ADA and most major insurers. An IOP provider may also take private money, of course. See Celebrity Sober Houses.

Average insurance payout for an IOP program is $15 to 20k. Average IOP stay is 30 days. Office rent is $2k a month. Light advertising brings in two to three clients a day. You do the math.

Ancillaries like payroll and licensing are peanuts. The people I work for hire someone new just about once a week. They buy a new computer or tablet probably every two days. All the owners have new cars and multiple new cars, and are buying new homes.

This is free money. I don't know any industry that can print money like this, but I have never worked in oil or other energy sector.

Doesn't sound so bad, except that the property owner doesn't give a shiat about the property. The kids all hang around smoking (since that's the only vice allowed to them now) and littering. Land owners hate them. City hates them but will take the money. Can't do anything to them because ADA and Fair Housing Act is protected class.

The cost of entry into the business to start your own program is probably less than 10k.

MFK:I heard about this a couple weeks ago. It's a way that landlords can cram up to 4 people per bedroom at the cost of $150+ per week. Obviously, while not all sober houses are blatant cash grabs and do provide a service for recovering addicts, more and more of them are turning out to be just a way for landlords to take advantage of people at their lowest point. Totally unregulated and unequipped to deal with the problems that people in recovery face.

It's like that scene in Weeds where Kevin Nealon's character gets caught running a fake charity so tries to cover for it by turning his office into a homeless shelter.

$150/week is a fair rate for hostel dorm style living quarters. Sober houses are places to live, not treatment centers.

These places are a great idea, if you are the one running them. My wife's employer owns one of these places and he uses the residents as cheap labor for his businesses. Pays everyone under the table, takes living expenses directly from their paychecks and regularly screws them over with the rest of their money if half of what gets relayed back to me is true.

Like the fargin rent next door. The Holy Roller Sobriety Champion regularly brings home these "Wounded Birds" to help re-habilly-tate. In a neighborhood of children and elderly and too damn close to the school for registered offenders to live.

I'm a live and let live kind of person but I'm starting to re-think my views on this sort of idiocy.He's not a trained therapist he's a recovering alcoholic and though his hearts in the right place, he has no right to potentially threaten our lives.There's no screening process only "got rent money?" and that's about it.

Just like everyone else, I worked damn hard to get this house in the best place for my family, NO registered offenders locally, close to schools, the highway, emergency services, walk to downtown, convenience/gas around the corner and the best Vet in three counties, city water and a paid assessment on the city sewer, a dry cleaners, a VFW and a nice little Irish Restaurant at the end of the road.

Now I have to keep an eye on a changing list of players. Not fair. Not right and not legal.

In my psych internship, some of our clients lived in these places, and they were a racket. The owner buys the building/house, which is on the verge of falling down, and forces the residents, fresh out of detox and usually too sick to hold any kind of actual job, to work on repairs, as part of their "treatment." The places were overcrowded, not enough bathrooms, sub-code construction, and "managed" by people whose only qualification was that they were in "recovery" and had maybe a couple or three months clean themselves. In my city, they owner signed the clients up for welfare and then kept the benefit money, except for a $15 per week allowance. Or worse, they took in newly released convicts, which meant a much bigger pay-out in program fees from the state. Some of them were running petty crime rings from out of the houses. Bad times.

My neighbor across the street passed away several years ago, and the new owner converted his house to this model. 6-8 guys crammed into one house. They all sit out on a couch on the drive way smoking all day.

The owner works for the State of California, so I would guess somehow the state pays for these guys room and board because in the program they are not allowed to work.

We have paramedics or the sherriff at that house around 2-3 times per month.

And the great thing about this? When you're living in a sober house and your housemates finally drive you up the wall, you can simply walk over to the drug dealer's house next door and get instant relief. It's a way of keeping it all in the neighborhood.

/yes, it's that bad//the employees at the auto repair shop up the street do drugs in the parking lot after work///but hey... at least we have the sandstorms to break up the monotony